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The Spirt of Pluto
Meerkats123 is my co-pilot once more, but this time we're focusing on a new group...well not so new. Intro For a long time, we followed the story of Pluto. A meerkat that was born with a bone condition that cause him to grow to only 8 inches tall. But like every great hero, there comes a time when the story must end. But with the fall of one hero, there is always one in the works. What Happens Next The Pretenders are quiet at their new burrow. The loss of their dominant male is a hard blow to everyone, especially Finn. Even the three pups are quiet and still for once, unsure of what to do. For the group's youngest members, it's especially hard. Pluto was the only dominant male and father figure they had ever known. They look to Giant, Finn's eldest son in the Pretenders, who now finds himself being the oldest male, despite being just two years old. Pluto had joined the group when he was just a teenager. Before that it had just been Finn and her daughters raising him and Royal. Giant knew the family needed male leadership and as the oldest, that duty fell to him for now. Royal sat with heavily pregnant Ball, who seemed to sense that her future pups would never know their real father. The poor meerkat felt gloomy for what happened, but yet Pluto would live on, not just in Finn's pups, but in her own...provided that they survive. Another meerkat is sitting alone, Orion. The young meerkat had taken Pluto's death hard, Dinky and Raspberry have been trying to cheer him up, but they aren't having much luck. Strawberry and his sister creep over to cuddle with their big brother, trying to help. After a while Finn forces herself to her feet. She was lost without Pluto, true she had two mates before, but Pluto had been different. He had been her partner, her rock, despite being tiny. But she has to lead her group, moping won't help her pups. The group heads out, leaving Royal behind to babysit the pups. Orion decides to stay behind as well. Perhaps he thinks babysitting will help take his mind off his father's death. For Royal, it's nice to have somebody around to lend a paw. She watches as Giant leads the males off for the first time. Her brother was now hitting his prime, unfortunately Dinky is only still a teenager, but he likes to follow his brother. Royal keeps a look out while Orion watches the three pups play. Strawberry tries to wander off, but his sitters are wise to his tricks and each time the pup is returned to the burrow. Watermelon is busy watching a beetle while Cherry scratched at the sand of the burrow. The Young male is soon distracted by Royal's alarm call. She's spotted a rover. Just like Giant is old enough to rove, Royal is old enough to mate. But doing so can cause more trouble to a group who hasn't gotten the chance to stabilize after the loss of their leader. There is also the matter of Ball's pups, if Royal becomes pregnant, then she could kill the new pups, that is one problem that the Pretenders don't need since they had only started enjoying the success of surviving litters. There is another dilemma, there is no dominant male. Giant has taken the role, but he is only a natal male with relation to all the females in the group. The group had lost two members prior to Pluto's death, Stop It and Nik-Nak who had been seen leaving the reserve in the company of wild males, but there was more females than males still. Royal watches as the rover moves closer, he's obviously not really good as his attempts to hide are rather foolish. He's an easy pest to be dealt with and one war-dance is all it takes to send the rover packing. Orion surfaces with the pups to find the area free of rovers, but it turns out that there is more on the horizon...including an old face from the past. That old face...is Rainstorm. Rainstorm has a record for being both a notorious rover and for attempting to form new mobs, often without success. When he formed a mob with two females from the Sweet-tooths, his luck had changed as Chocolate had proved to be a productive dominant female. But slowly the group began to dwindle and soon it was only a few meerkats left, Chocolate had died and Licorice had taken her mother's place, but her earlier success of mothering pups had faded due to age, disease sealed the mob's fate, but Rainstorm had managed to make it out in time. The first thing the new bachelor did? Go to the neighboring groups to woo the ladies. His old charm has never died, even if his looks were no longer as desirable. But soon the same old got boring and Rainstorm had wandered before being transported here. Now he has wandered into the Pretenders' land and he's not an amateur rover. But Rainstorm isn't after the young babysitter. He's after her mother, but it won't be easy. Finn has taken to foraging within the group, not the easier place to reach with several other members around her. Giant and Dinky had returned, their courage failing before they had located other groups. While Dinky forages with the others, Giant has taken watch with Wee Radge. As midday rolls around, the Pretenders moved into the shade with Finn dozing in the middle once more. But Ball can't get settled. The pregnant meerkat shifts around, trying to get comfortable with not much luck. She finally decides to head back to the burrow. No one notices her. Even the current sentry, Radge barely bats an eye. The midday heat makes her woozy and uncomfortable. Rainstorm watches Ball from the entrance of his midday shelter. He was excited by the sight of her. It would only be a matter of days before she would be ready to mate again.. In fact Rainstorm had an ide. His plan was to attempt to mate with all of the Pretenders females within a matter of days. It's risky, but Rainstorm knew that if the females game birth over the span of a week or so, they would accept each pup as their own,therefore increases the chance of survival for each litter. It would also help Rainstorm gain the females' support if he tried to join the group. Rainstorm assessed the Pretenders for an easy target. But the group is awaken by peeps and are surprised to see two meerkats with three pups approaching. Royal had grown paranoid by the rover at the burrow and also Orion's sullen behavior, she's decided that it's better to join the other as the pups are certainly old enough. With the welcome brief and other, the Pretenders settle back for their nap. Rainstorm waits then moves closer, only to feel an unexpected pain in one of his front paws, he looks down...to see Strawberry. The adventurous pup had wandered away from the dozing group and has spotted the rover, he's too young to know the male's real purpose, but from the smell the pup knows that Rainstorm is not family and thus he's ready to defend the group. Strawberry backs up and squeaks at Rainstorm, standing on wobbly hind legs to face down the older meerkat. He's a pup, Rainstorm an adult, but the Pretenders are alerted to the situation. Giant leads the charge with Dinky and Orion. Rainstorm is bigger than the three males, but three against one, with a group now on edge, is not worth standing up to. Rainstorm retreats...for now. Rainstorm returned to his bolt hole and the researchers discover that he wasn't alone. With him are Snowy, former Cave Men and Whiskers dominant male,and teenage Drie Doring female Bishop. The researchers are surprised, Snowy and Bishop come from two groups that have never been around the groups that Rainstorm had lived in, the fact that these two meerkats are with him is puzzling. Snowy is in good health, given that he had been sick for a while with an illness that was feared to be the dreaded TB. Luckily, the illness turned out to be something else, but Snowy is still recovering. Snowy is on lookout while Bishop is sniffing at a fallen tree branch, and upon seeing Rainstorm, the two meerkats warmly greet him. Bishop had been evicted from her natal group by her mother, despite her young age and Snowy suprisingly took her in during a recent roving trip through the area. How they discovered Rainstorm is a complete mystery. But it's clear that Rainstorm and Snowy know one thing, Bishop needs a stable group to grow up in and that could present an opportunity. There is several groups around, but accepting a female is never an easy choice, but Bishop is young so she has some points for that. But right now Rainstorm doesn't want to push boundaries, one injury to either him or Snowy can spell trouble for the young meerkat. They'll wait a bit, then try again. For now, the trio has a rare oppertunity to relax and play. = A few weeks have passed since we saw Rainstorm and his little trio together. Apparently, Snowy and Bishop left for a brief while and much has changed. They passed through Drie Doring territory and somehow picked up Bishop's three month old brother, Lobster. They then ran into the Whiskers, who locked in on Snowy. Bishop and Lobster stayed close and watched as the attack unfolded. Snowy made it out alive, but at a cost. one of his younger brothers badly bit his tail and ripped out one of his "family jewels " (That part is actually true). Snowy escaped and rejoined Bishop and Lobster. They somehow made it back to Rainstorm. With everyone back together, plus Lobster, Rainstorm is trying to get everything back to normal. However, it's difficult. Snowy is still tending to his injury, Lobster is still learning how to forage, and Bishop is now clearly pregnant with Snowy's pups. Rainstorm is now out of the Pretenders fur for the time being. It's just as well beacaue they have their paws full with Ball's pups. There are three of them; Peach, Pear, and Cherry. The pups are new life to the Pretenders, though nobody knows of their true father. If Finn has any clue then she is keeping it to herself. For right now it's a tough going for the larger Pretenders and the Rainstorm's small group, but they will just have to keep going. Still Struggling A week has gone by and everyone is still finding life hard. Snowy is feeling a little better, but it's still painful when he tries to forage. He's lucky that Bishop has been so loyal to him. She's managed to split her time between tending to him, herself, and her unborn litter. Her little brother, Lobster can now feed himself. But, Rainstorm has other things on his mind. He's been drawn to the Pretenders with Finn ready to mate, but Giant has been keeping the pesky rover away. Little Orion is small, but he's been following his big brother and so far they've been successful. Finn appreciates the effort. She is a worn meerkat, having faced much loss over her many years. It seems that Pluto's death had been a particularly hard hit, but she has her group around and the Pretenders had survived for so long through unity. She doesn't seem to be into mating today. Perhaps her old body just needs a little break. At ten years old, Finn is doing well for her age, but isn't in the best shape of her life. Maybe letting her daughters deal with babies will allow Finn to rebuild her strength. Years of breeding have taken their toll on her. Rainstorm seems to sense this based on Finn's lack of intrestt. He knows he has a group to tend to, but Rainstorm decided to check in on Royal. The young female had once been fearful of the the old, large male. However, Royal was growing more curious by the day. Today, Royal has slipped away during the group's midday nap and finds herself face to face with Rainstorm who has been watching her. She slowly aproachhes him, but had a tag-along. Orion had been playing with a pebble when he looked up, noticing that Royal was creeping away. The little pup followed his adopted older sister, curious to where she was going. Orion blinked up at Rainstorm, not knowing who he was. Rainstorm stared back at the pup, for a moment neither meerkat moved. Rainstorm finally ignored him to greet Royal, only to jump with a yelp as the pup bit his paw. Little Orion struggled onto his hind legs, trying to look big and tough even though he was a rather small pup. Rainstorm knew that the pup was bluffing. But, he was unsure how to react. Hurting or killing Orion was not on his to do list. Royal hoped that her little brother would lose interest and leave and she eventually got her wish. As with all teenagers, Orion would rather play fight with his brothers and sisters. In fact, the whole family is playing together. It's the perfect way to wake up after a nap. Royal and Rainstorm take the opportunity to slip away. With Finn clearly not interested in breeding due to the trauma of Pluto's death and her own poor health, Rainstorm sees a chance to get to know the curious, cute female that Royal is. Being around a rover is something totally new to Royal. But, Rainstorm 's sweet and gentle approach works like a charm. But they're interrupted once again, this time by Wee Radge who is interested in the rover. Royal glares at the other meerkat but Wee Radge ignores her. It looks like Rainstorm is going to be fought over. But the loud snarls have caught Finn's attention and the dominant female comes running. She might be letting her daughters mate and have pups, but she won't tolerate fights breaking out over it. A stealy glare seems to be enough to settle things for now. Her daughters still know she's the boss around here. Radge and Royal seem to realize that the only new freedom they have is the right to mate. If Rainstorm realizes this he will be back time and time again to see each and every female as soon as the time is right. Now, with the group once again no longer focused on him, Rainstorm has a choice to make. Radge? Royal? Or both? Category:Pluto Saga